The Grand Program

My body responds to volume, but not too much. It responds to ME exercises but only DE on the lower body lifts, my upper body is pretty explosive from years of sports and throwing implements.

I also have tried squatting more than once a week and was rewarded with more knee pain and recovery issues, so once a week it is, so how to structure a program based around all that bullshit…

Well over at Titan’s they have an in-house powerlifting team with a few real fucking good lifters. I am following their program with some minor tweaks to fit my needs and my goals.

So what the hell is it?

First, a little back story….

I used to follow 5/3/1 like a fucking religion and it worked well for me, I mean it worked well for a lot of people. One thing that I have noticed is the lack of true max effort work, and so did many others including the author which he then fixed with 5/3/1 for Powerlifting.

In the meantime I switched up to my own version of a ME/DE Westside-type program which worked out well for me but often left me overtrained because of my schedule and recovery issues from it. If I had a normal job and a normal life this would be great, but I don’t…

So…. I had to take some time off for a kidney stone/infection and the recovery, this made me lose about 15 pounds, some strength and a bit of work capacity. I spent a couple months building some back up and a couple weeks doing some ME work to get my CNS firing again, and now its time for the meat and potatoes of this shit.

Day One and Five (Monday):ME Bench (3/5/1)BackTricepsAbs

The main lift will follow the 5/3/1 for PL guidelines which is actually 3/5/1. The 3 and 1 weeks will be ME weeks and the 5 week will be repping my balls off. A little twist to this shit is during the ME bench after the required number of reps I will cycle boarded bench, pause work, bands, chains, etc. to give my body different stimulus each time to work on needed weak points.

Day Two and Six (Wednesday):5/3/1 PressLatsDelts

Sticking with the normal 5/3/1 for the press. I don’t give a fuck how much I can push overhead, the main reason is to build my shoulders up, some more tricep work and actually look good because we all love those round shoulders that go POW in a tanktop.

Day Three and Seven (Thursday):ME/DE Squat (3/5/1)ME/DE Deadlift (3/5/1)Abs

This is the big day. Day 3 will be DE Squat and ME Dead, Day 7 will be reversed. DE lifts will be done from 55-65% using various bands and bars while the ME lift will follow the 5/3/1 for PL protocol. Accessory work will all be done on one day instead of after the lifts since these take time to do.

Day Four and Eight (Friday, Saturday or Sunday):Lower Body accessory work

This is the day where I will spend the most time lifting, high ass volume meant to bring up the area where I need the most work, my squat and my pull. I can pull well over 600 but I want 700 and my squat is my weakest lift relatively.

Some people say, don’t combine programs… I say, fuck you! They are my goals and I know what my body reacts to, so its go time.